


Valerie Faol's Legend of the Void Wolves

by InFamousHero



Series: Second Chances [2]
Category: Borderlands
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cults, Cyborg Character, Disabled Character, Established Relationship, F/F, Gaelic Language, Pacifism, Sharing a Body, Transhumanism, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6798166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InFamousHero/pseuds/InFamousHero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With her safety and happiness secured, Felicity had hoped the largest of her troubles were behind her. But when a message from the grave threatens to unravel the one person she trusts with her existence, she finds herself grappling with her limitations all over again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Darkness Called

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't already, I recommend reading "It Means Happiness," as that explains how/why Felicity is alive and accompanying a mercenary lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to give this story another go after looking over it again.

There’d always be troublemakers, even if wholesale destruction was imminent. When Elpis was crumbling the scav gangs just kept going, taking and doing everything they could get away with.

          Felicity supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that the _simple_ matter of Helios’s bulk crashing onto Pandora’s surface had done little to ruffle anyone’s proverbial feathers. There was some noise, of course, but after a month it just sort of... settled. Now it was months after the fact and five different pissants tried to make themselves out as warlords.

          There’d always be something else.

          Valerie didn’t make much of it, leaving opinions and decision making to the louder or higher-ranking folk. Of course, Valerie shared with her and Felicity held the words close like a well-guarded secret. There was a lot more care and thought going on behind Valerie’s machine eyes than most gave her credit for, but she let them have that impression of her for a reason. It made life simpler.

          The straight-faced attitude Valerie had when picking up work contributed to it, and along with their success rate added up to them getting a lot of the odd jobs that no one else particularly _wanted_ to deal with.

          The emphasis really was on _odd_ in their case. They dealt with the ‘weird shit,’ as Valerie liked calling it, and Felicity made a point of keeping track.

          There were many things about humans she would never understand and most of them fell into the categories she’d sorted their odd jobs into.

          Self-immolation, cannibalism, the propensity to imitate and act like literal animals, to name a few—there was also the cake guy, but they were never going to bring up _that_ particular freak show in conversation again.

          Still, dealing with the weirdness helped them make friends and allies in Sanctuary.

          With the late afternoon sun dipping towards the horizon, Felicity swooped into Moxxxi’s with barely a whisper of sound. Her drone shell had only gotten better with Valerie’s constant tinkering.

          The bar hadn’t gotten too intolerable yet but come nightfall Felicity wouldn’t be caught near the place. The drunken vulgarities were far too familiar.

          But she had a purpose here and slipped overhead of the scattered patrons, landing on the bar itself. Moxxi just finished serving a drink and noticed Felicity’s form easily. It stood out when she didn’t engage the stealth field, a metallic wasp as large as someone’s hand was hard to miss.

          “Ah, right on time,” she said, fishing a flash-drive from her clothing. “I was about to give your toy soldier a call.”

          “Probably better this way, she’s in the middle of a check-up.” Felicity moved along the bar and took the flash-drive when offered, tucking it away in the drone’s body.

          Moxxi smiled, a touch of sincerity to it. “Good thing she has you then.” She glanced over at a new group of patrons entering the bar. “Tell Bright Eyes to drop by more often, she’s so well behaved.” A drier smile turned Moxxi’s lips as she moved away to get drinks. “So happy to take out the trash.”

          Felicity was quick to leave, knowing an influx of people wasn’t far off. She actually _liked_ Moxxi on a personal basis, interests and surrounding people aside. Moxxi had at least always been nice with her.

          Deep orange sunlight cast severe shadows throughout Sanctuary and Felicity took note of the patterns on the streets she flew over, like glowing paint clawed into place.

          She took her time returning ‘home,’ enjoying the fading sunlight and picking at the contents of the flash drive.

          It was a collection of documents about local and out of bounds gang activity. Mostly relating to the ‘weird shit’ so they could handle it better.

          She approached their apartment and flew in through the open window, easily gliding onto Valerie’s shoulder. It did nothing to startle Valerie, as she kept tweaking and fiddling with the diagnostic tool plugged into her arm. Wires affixed to the underside of her wrist and fed all the information she needed into the tool’s display.

          “Welcome back,” Valerie murmured. She was sitting at her desk in the corner across from the door, in little more than shorts and a tank top.

          Felicity hopped down her cybernetic arm onto the desk and dropped the drive where Valerie would see it once the diagnostic was done. She moved back up and the panels on Valerie’s arm opened up between the shoulder and elbow joints, letting her dock the drone shell.

          Projecting next to her made a smile turn Valerie’s lips. “You got it?” she asked without looking up, tapping away.

          Felicity didn’t answer right away, momentarily watching Valerie articulate her fingers and wrist joint. Truth be told, Valerie didn’t _need_ the diagnostic tool. But it was habit and she liked checking things for herself, it was her body. She didn’t like taking Felicity’s presence or talents for granted and while the sentiment was appreciated it was unnecessary. She wasn’t being used or pressured, she _wanted_ to help.

          Remembering a question had been asked, Felicity crossed her arms and refocused. “Of course—though we’ll have to do some digging to parse anything useful,” she said, frowning. “I had a look on the way back and most of it is reports on fights breaking out and garbled transcripts.”

          Valerie hummed, inputting the last few commands before the tool beeped affirmatively. She tugged the wires out and rolled her wrist, setting the tool aside.

          Grabbing the drive, Valerie slotted it into her forearm and got out of her chair. She stretched her arms above her head and walked over to the kitchenette. “Drone still working fine?” she asked, searching for tea.

          “It is, though I’ve been thinking about its capabilities.”

          “Hm?”

          “If I can’t find a way to help you through surrounding tech, I’d like some way of distracting or disabling our targets. Perhaps a paralytic agent or a taser of some sort?”

          “You want a sting.”

          Direct kills still made her flinch and recoil, that’s what Valerie was for, and whilst she greatly preferred dealing with the mechanical side of their jobs she always felt helpless when there was no such avenue.

          Danger would close in on Valerie and she would make it through the fight, but Felicity couldn’t help but feel useless the more it happened.

          Valerie made a point of telling her that wasn’t true, of course. But there were some risks Felicity felt the increasing urge to minimize to the best of her ability. If there was another way she could help keep Valerie alive, she wanted to explore it. It was just a matter of feeling out her limitations again.

          The scent of floral tea soon filled the room and Valerie moved away from the kitchenette to settle on the couch with a freshly steaming mug between her hands. The grip pads on the palm and fingers of her right kept the ceramic from slipping and smashing on the floor.

          To apply the right pressure, realize when the warmth was too much and when to pull away…

          Felicity held some understanding of it thanks to this partnership, what it meant to have a body. A proper one as opposed to her mercifully brief stint in the Constructor—it had only felt like a cage rather than a home.

          There were already times Valerie couldn’t be helped and it showed in her marks and metal limbs. Her body had been irreversibly changed.

          Even if the drone was destroyed, it could be rebuilt. Valerie could only be rebuilt so much before…

          Felicity pulled herself away from that line of thought. She couldn’t get caught up in mortality like that, not when it came to Valerie. She’d just spend all her time fretting about something that couldn’t be changed.

          For now, Valerie was _here_ , and Felicity wanted to help her _stay here_ as much as possible.

          She sighed and moved her projection, settling next to Valerie on the couch. “I want to help,” she murmured.

          Bright pupils fixated on her, another mark of trials long since passed, and Valerie smiled gently. “You do. I’ll give the design a look,” she said, thoughtful. “Taser’s not fiddly if it fits. You’ll want to look up the compounds for paralysis though, you’re better at that than me.”

          Valerie relaxed into the couch and leaned her head back, sighing. Her mind was still ticking away however and Felicity could feel the jumps between circuits and flesh. It wasn’t that different from the trickling tickle of information from the drive as it found its place in Valerie’s micro-computers.

          Felicity shifted along until her projection intersected with Valerie’s right side and a pleasant sensation of closeness passed through them both. Valerie just smiled again and closed her eyes, murmuring a few affectionate words in her mother tongue.

          Felicity smiled back and curled her figure against Valerie’s side, settling down to pick through the documents.

          Or she would have if the door didn’t ring.

          Valerie jerked upright and glanced at it, frowning. She set her tea down and got up to answer it, resting her hand near a hidden weapon by the door.

          Looking through the peephole didn’t seem to agitate her and she opened the door, hiding her weapon arm with it.

          Felicity moved behind Valerie, knowing chances were good she wouldn’t be seen.

          There was a person standing with a small, flat box in their hands and their body wrapped in a cloak. A hood was pulled over their head and they wore a featureless mask. They didn’t seem to notice her and Felicity frowned, studying them for any sign of hostility.

          Eight seconds passed before they simply lifted their arms and held the box out for Valerie. She didn’t reach for it, frowning at them instead. “Explain.”

          “ _Sealg_.” Their voice was soft but deep, and the word both confused and intrigued Valerie.

          Felicity knew enough to know what it meant, but what did he mean by telling Valerie to hunt?

          Another handful of seconds and she slowly reached out and took the box. The stranger bowed their head and walked away without another word spoken.

          Valerie closed the door and stared down at the box in her hands as if unsure what to do with it. She seemed oddly… struck.

          Felicity moved around to her side. “Val?”

          That made her blink and she walked to her desk. Felicity was quick to follow, watching her settle down and take the lid off to reveal an ECHO recorder. It seemed to hold a single file by the looks of it.

          Valerie switched it on, playing the file after but a moment’s hesitation.

          A woman’s voice spoke in the same language the stranger did, the same language Valerie herself dipped into now and then.

          _“You were always a survivor. Your strength shouldn’t surprise me, even if your heart was soft. Seek us along the north-western coast, where the cold and rain turns the land to marsh and swamp, and our fangs close around the throat of the weak.”_

          Valerie’s eyes went wide and her brows raised high. Felicity rocked slightly from the shock that rippled through to her and took a few seconds to reassert herself. “Do you recognize the voice?” she asked slowly.

          Valerie nodded numbly. “It’s… it sounds like Cass. I ran a mercenary company with her. She’s supposed to be dead.” Her hands clenched tight enough that her knuckles were white and Felicity shifted uneasily.

          Something about Valerie’s expression cut at her deeply and it took a moment for Felicity to realize that it was because she’d never seen Valerie look so disturbed before.

          Frowning, she lay her hands against Valerie’s right arm. “It sounds like an invitation, or a trap, or both. What do you want to do?”

          Valerie sighed deeply, running her hands over her head to the back of her neck. “I… I don’t know.”

          Another foreign piece, the tone of voice Valerie used. Felicity shook off her unease, glancing at the recorder itself and shooting it a glare. “Do you want to investigate? It could have been sent by anyone.”

          “Not like this. It has to be her, I have to know.”

          “Are you sure?”

          Valerie grunted and got up from her desk, searching for outside clothes. “I’ll talk with Lilith.”

 

* * *

 

 

Something about being the Crimson Raider ‘offices’ had Felicity feeling on edge, but she put that down to Claptrap lurking not far enough from the building. On a far more positive note, Lilith was easy to reach.

“The saltmarsh? Folks up there are weird but harmless, for the most part. Got a town called ‘Saunburg’ up there, heard its real quiet.”

          Lilith studied them for a moment, arms crossed. “Why’s this message got you riled up?”

          “It shouldn’t exist.” Valerie was short in her answer. A raised brow from Lilith prompted her to take a deep breath and exhale, as if trying to purge any wayward thoughts with it. “It’s from a woman who should be dead. We had a mercenary company together called the...”

          It was like the words caught in her throat and Valerie frowned, grimacing. “Well, real name’s a mouthful. We called ourselves the Void Wolves for outsiders, built it up from nothing. We were good, always getting better, thought we would keep going until we were dust.”

          Lilith sighed, a knowing look on her face. “And it blew up in your face?”

          Another grimace and Valerie gestured to the right side of her body.

          A twitch of sympathy tugged at Lilith’s expression and she shrugged, settling in her chair. “Well,” she said. “Guess that means you weren’t the only survivor.”

          “Am I free to go?”

          “I’m not keeping you, just come back in one piece.”

          “Always the plan.”

          Valerie turned to leave but Lilith held up her hand. “Before you go, what’s the real name? Just curious.”

          Felicity glanced between the two, watching Valerie’s brow furrow while her back was turned to Lilith. She smoothed her expression and faced the other woman. “ _Dorcha Madaihean-allaidh._ ”

          Unsurprisingly, that earned another raised brow from Lilith. “Come again?” she asked, sitting up to lean on her desk.

          Felicity forced a smile and answered shortly, “mother tongue.”

          A conceding sigh was all Lilith gave and she waved them away, prompting Valerie to turn on her heel again.

 

* * *

 

 

Packing was quick and efficient, with little communication needed. Valerie typically had everything she’d need for longer jobs in easy to reach places and a tough duffle bag ready for all of it.

          The silence only broke when Valerie stopped moving, transfixed by the faceplate she wore into battle.

          “What is it?” Felicity asked gently. She landed the drone on Valerie’s shoulder and turned her projection away from the desk, having made sure none of the tools they might need were left behind.

          Valerie was quiet and brushed her thumb along the edge of the faceplate, frowning deeply. The base was largely featureless, a deep navy blue that matched the majority of her armour. But carved embellishments were attached to create the appearance of a snarling hound. When she wore the faceplate it projected pale blue ‘eyes’ to complete the image.

          It did its job in scaring weaker willed enemies during night work, but other than that it was just stylized protection.

          “We all had one,” Valerie murmured. She sighed and stuffed the faceplate into her bag, closing it with distracted, almost reluctant movements. She’d been frowning since they returned and it only kept worsening.

          Felicity intersected her hand with Valerie’s, curled tight into the bag, and moved to look up at her. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ve faced too many challenges to be stopped now.” Valerie’s eyes flicked towards her and she smiled, hoping it looked reassuring. “And I’ll be with you, as always. You won’t be facing whatever waits at the end of this alone.”

          Guilt tugged at Valerie’s scarred features and her eyes drifted back to the bag. “We don’t know what’s out there,” she murmured.

          Felicity frowned, shaking her head. “You’re not convincing me to stay, so don’t even think about it.”

          To her relief, though not her surprise, Valerie just nodded at her words. The last thing she wanted to do was let Valerie run off into an unknown after spending most of the evening looking more disturbed than Felicity had ever seen her.

          It was unsettling to watch, Valerie wasn’t _shaken_ by things, but quite honestly Felicity couldn’t find it in herself to blame her for the reaction.

          How would she feel if _Keith_ or Jack seemingly returned from the grave?

          The mere idea made ill feelings slither through her systems and she quickly shook it off. No, she couldn’t possibly let Val run off in a similar state by herself.

          Ordering her thoughts, Felicity glanced between the kitchenette and Valerie. “You should eat something and get to bed. We’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

          Valerie nodded silently, shuffling off to pick through her cupboards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bits of foreign language here and there are scots gaelic. I guarantee you none of it is pronounced quite the way it looks like it should be.
> 
> For example, Valerie's surname. "Faol" is "Foohl."
> 
> My aim is to update every monday.


	2. The Hunt Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow Felicity and Valerie as they delve into the swamp and meet the distrustful people of Saunburg. Will they begin to find answers or only more confusion?

The air was thick with salt and fog, enveloping everything for miles like the embrace of a frozen mother. Gentle, but terribly cold.

          Water breaking on the bow and distant waves kept silence at bay as their ferry cut across the river outlet. It was a single branch from a much larger tree that split into deltas and marshland all along the rugged coast. A few knolls survived near the water’s edge and harboured moss laden trees, whip like branches hanging limp and covered in thorns. Others stood as thin, lonesome spires, all tough leaves and spindly branches.

          Cold whipped the water into icy streaks and frost during the night, leaving inhabitants to crunch their way through the mud until a meagre few hours of sunlight chased the worst of the chills away.

          If there was a more miserable looking place on Pandora, Felicity had yet to see it. At least she could keep herself occupied learning about the flora as they passed by. A quick scan and Valerie’s network connection brought up all sorts of information.

          She really did wonder what kind of quirk in human psychology lead to the first medicinal uses in herbs. Observation or pure bull-headed luck? She was willing to believe it was a bit of both.

          “What do you think we’ll find?” Valerie’s question caught Felicity off guard. She hadn’t been talking much during the two days of travel but wasn’t unresponsive, just withdrawn.

          Standing at the bow with her hands on the railing, Valerie didn’t seem that bothered by the chill even though readings showed her face was cold. Her armour had a thin layer dedicated to thermal regulation, redirecting extra heat from her body and cybernetics in warm regions and keeping it in the cold.

          “Well, you’re liable to find an illness if you don’t put that helmet on. This is a swamp, after all.”

          “Don’t need to right now.”

          “Your face is freezing.”

          Valerie sighed and wiped a hand down her face. “S’No that bad,” she muttered.

          When she didn’t say anything further, Felicity frowned, manifesting herself in front of Valerie. Her sudden appearance did nothing to make Valerie flinch, only lean back to look at her properly.

          The water continued to slosh and break under them as they held each other’s stare for a handful of seconds, before Valerie’s expression softened slightly. “I won’t be reckless,” she murmured.

          Felicity looked away towards the direction the ferry was heading. “Okay. I… I don’t know what we’ll find,” she said, looking back at Valerie. “It sounds as if your friend survived whatever happened and moved on. Perhaps she thought you were dead?”

          She refrained from voicing her other concerns, theories, not wanting to trip Valerie up with things that might not be a concern worth noting.

          It could be a trap of some sort, but why? What she knew of Valerie gave her no reason to think anyone who had been her friend would want her dead.

          The situation was a frustrating unknown.

          Realizing she’d let a lull form, Felicity sighed and ordered her thoughts. “Sorry, mind is running away from me.”

          Valerie shook her head. “Nothing to apologize for, darling,” she murmured.

 

* * *

 

 

When the ferry arrived at Saunburg, the weather had gotten worse and fog lights glowed through the vaporous murk like glass lanterns.

          They stepped off onto docks laden with frosted boats and Valerie’s breath continued to mist into the air.

          She made her way into town, footsteps clear on the wooden slats that clearly marked streets and pathways, and Felicity stayed quiet as she watched the town pass by.

          It was a ramshackle thing, almost anarchic in design, sprawling and coiling on itself in overlapping platforms, balconies connected by footbridges. The fog lay just as thick in the town, seeping into every corner and turn, wrapping around every building. The glow from windows was just like the fog lights, blurring in the water vapour until their details grew fuzzy.

          The townspeople seemed to go about their business, covered in weather resistant clothing that nearly reminded Felicity of the scavs. It was mostly the headgear. She shook off the association and paid more attention to what the people around them were doing.

          Some seemed to watch them pass by, only momentarily curious. Most others seemed to fixate, lurking on the pathways above, leaning against shop fronts, heads slowly turning as Valerie walked along without giving them much attention.

          Felicity frowned, filing away a reminder to tell Valerie to get some sort of rain cloak.

          “Val, these people are taking notice of you.”

          “I know,” Valerie murmured lowly. Her stride never broke and she walked calmly in search of the town hall, keeping her awareness of the watchers between herself and Felicity.

          That’s what she was for, after all, and Felicity fell silent as she returned to doing just that.

          It was becoming more and more apparent that their connection through Valerie’s half-machine body was closer than either assumed it would be. Felicity didn’t mind, far from it, though with anyone else she might have. At this point, she couldn’t imagine being apart from Valerie.

          Finally they came to a small square where the town hall seemed to be located. A carved wooden statue stood in the centre, of some religious import. It depicted a featureless person with arms spread, kelp was coiled around one and an eel around the other. The weather was steadily rotting it but that seemed to be the point if the sources she was finding were correct—something about life, death and the nature of the sea. They replaced it every time the last one finally crumbled away.

          Valerie stepped inside the hall, letting the doors hiss shut behind her. The lobby was small but dry and warm, filled with the soft orange glow of overhead lamps. A scrawny man sat behind a desk opposite the door and stairs lead up from either side of him.

          As Valerie walked over to him, Felicity undocked her drone and flitted over to the bounty board to the right of the door. She quickly accessed it and began flicking through entries, hoping to find something of import.

          Valerie started talking to the man and his sudden, fearful stammering had Felicity switching her attention away from the board in surprise.

          “I don’t want any trouble!” he insisted, holding up his hands in placation.

          Valerie frowned. “I don’t mean any. I’m here to-”

          Interrupting her, the man seemed none too convinced. “I promise none of us have given the cult, _the pack_ , I’m sorry, the pack—we haven’t gone against you, I swear. We’ve done everything you asked!”

          Valerie sighed heavily, propping her hands on his desk. “ _Listen_. I’m not part of any cult. I’m here to—”

          The doors hissed open, revealing a crowd of people outside. A short, stocky figure with a noticeable limp stepped forward, seeming to stare Valerie down. Frost clung to the creases of their clothes and the office lights shined off their visor.

Valerie narrowed her eyes at them but didn’t move, keeping her hands on the desk where they could be seen. “What’s this cult business you’re talking about?” she asked calmly. “I was sent a message by someone I thought was dead. I just want to know what the hell’s going on here.”

“I’ve trouble believing that when you’re dressed just like their elite members.” The short figure’s voice was wary and tense, matching their posture.

Valerie’s shoulders squared and she slowly turned to face them, hands raised. The secretary scarpered as soon as she turned away from him. “I just stepped off a ferry coming from the south, this is the first time I’ve been in your town,” Valerie said, keeping her voice even and calm. “If I _was_ part of this cult, why would I just walk in here like I’d done nothing wrong? Are they that arrogant?”

The short one shifted uneasily, seeming to look Valerie up and down. “Some of them come to town for recruits, but not the kind dressed like you.” They glanced over their shoulder and sighed, shooing the crowd away. “We’ll deal with this! Get back to your lives, folks…”

Once the door slid shut, Valerie let her arms drop and waited for the mystery townsperson to explain themselves.

They began tugging at their visor and wrappings, and Felicity moved her drone over to the secretary’s desk to investigate his computer.

 The townsperson revealed a narrow, weathered face and dark eyes, and extended their hand with a thin, forced smile. “Name’s Eugene, you can understand our caution, yeah?”

Valerie stiffly shook their hand, engaging in conversation while Felicity flicked through documents. Evidently, the town was having trouble with a group calling themselves the Maw of the Void. The cult lauded strength and dominance, embodying a ferocious ‘might makes right’ mentality more fitting for dog fights than anything their bandits back south took part in. It was familiar of course, but something about it sounded lucid,  _deliberate_ , and that made it all the more horrifying. Blood sport, raids, ritualistic killings, treating people like prey to be hunted and skinned, harvested for _parts_ —Felicity stopped reading and just saved relevant information. The ripple of disgust hit Valerie, causing her to frown and look over her shoulder for a couple of seconds. She looked back at Eugene quickly. “Whatever they’ve done, I want to help set it right.”

Felicity hopped up onto the lip of the desk and glided to Valerie’s arm, surprising Eugene. They stared at her, but she just docked without saying a word.

Switching back to Valerie, Eugene propped their hands on their hips, looking thoughtful. “Well, there’s plenty of hurt to go around, people have lost a lot to these bastards,” they said, scowling. “The people here won’t trust you right now, but I guess you could just march over there and try to take them apart by yourself. You look the type.”

Valerie shook her head. “Used to be. We’ll help.”

Confusion crossed Eugene’s face at that and they looked back at her arm where the drone was docked. “What, your wasp?”

It was easy to project a voice through Valerie’s cybernetics when the drone was docked. “Hardly _just_ a wasp,” she said dryly.

Eugene jumped, clearly not expecting the ‘wasp’ to talk. “Right…” they murmured. Pulling their headgear back into place, they made to leave but turned as they were half-way out the door. “Look, if you’re really serious about this and you need supplies at all, my store’s on the western end of the docks.”

With that, they left and the cold, vaporous weather was shut out once again.

Valerie sighed deeply and adjusted the strap of her duffle bag. “Find anything?”

“A lot of unpleasant details but useful information nonetheless. There were a few things I managed to spot on the board before we were interrupted.”

“Such as?”

“Errands mostly, investigation, retrieval of goods, sentimental items, that sort of thing—the people here just seem to want answers and closure.”

Valerie walked over to the board, a dark look passing over her face as she glanced over the listings. She took up a few of them and got moving.

She got a room at one of the town’s pubs and walked to the outskirts in search of transportation.

Of course, the locals didn’t trust machinery when it came to traversing the treacherous marshland. Instead they kept a stable of semi-aquatic beasts who made their home in the streams, bogs, and the swamps further inland. Their long, smooth bodies slipped through the mud and water like eels on razor-clawed legs.

They could also spit an incendiary substance, which made the process of taming them something of a local legend. Likely embellished—humans so loved doing that—but no less impressive.

Renting one was a simple matter and a slate coloured creature with large, bright yellow eyes was lead out for them. The thing looked flighty and Felicity frowned, making sure her drone was securely docked. “Have you ever actually ridden one of these… marshmanders, was it?” she asked, holding her apprehension as Valerie climbed into the saddle.

Valerie took hold of the specialized reins, her posture held to keep her low and close to the marshmander’s body. “Similar.”

She clicked at the back of her throat and urged the creature forward, lurching it into action as it set off down the path at a rapid pace.

 

* * *

 

 

The first stop was a fishing outpost not far up the northern edge of the coastline. It hugged a rocky outcrop that lifted just above the marsh and let them build something secure.

          Secure in as much as the buildings still stood. The people were another matter.

          It was only a couple of days ago that the cult struck but no one had been brave enough to come out and check for survivors or salvage. There were still deep drag marks in the mud, signs of a struggle in the burns and scratches decorating the three alloy fishing shacks that made up the outpost.

          The main building was sturdier and attached to a long, splitting pier. A couple of boats were still moored there, but it wasn’t clear if there had been more and they were used to escape or if that was it.

          Power seemed to be active and Felicity undocked, slipping through the fog to the main building. There was rudimentary security outside, basic cameras and other sensors that might be able to tell them something.

          She easily got the door open and glided inside, leaving Valerie to pick through the shacks and look for the items people wanted.

          The insides were a mess, furniture knocked over between scattered shards of pottery and the marsh flowers that used to fill them. Dirt mixed with water and the bodies of dead flatfish from a broken tank, glass glinting in the only light that remained come from the other tanks. They lined the whole wall to her left, filled with local fish and crustaceans that would starve and go to waste without anyone here.

          Felicity passed them by and moved into the back of the building. She tried to ignore the drying blood spatter on the floor and a handful of flies drawn by the scent, instead fixating on a computer set in the corner.

          She landed on the desk and searched until she found somewhere to plug in, waking it up with what power was still running through the building.

          Outpost reports, mostly about catches and any maintenance requirements, strange sightings from the sea. There seemed to be a lot of those, odd, sinewy beasts they didn’t recognize and lights over the water, some mentions of the Sea in a superstitious context.

          There also calls and video chats between workers and inhabitants of Saunburg, lots of tedious transcripts.

          Felicity sighed, drone wings buzzing for a second in annoyance. Whoever the computer belonged to was absolutely terrible at organization, she had half a mind to—

          The wrong file opened in her distraction and Felicity caught several seconds too long of the owner’s private interests. She hastily shut it down and tried not to think about it. She’d been under the distinct impression humans were not supposed to bend like that.

          She shook it off and focused again, picking through the files with far more caution this time.

          Finally she found what appeared to be security footage. It showed the outside area and the main room of the building she was in, with all the tanks in view.

          Picking through the file dates, Felicity moved back a couple of days until she found footage with active people.

          They were going about their work just fine for the several hours she sped through, until it go closer to the end of the day. Shots went overhead and the workers around the campfire dashed from their chairs, trying to find cover. Not quick enough for one as he was hit in the shoulder.

          It was faint at first, but the cameras picked up something that sounded like howling.

          One of the workers came out with a rifle and fired at the attackers. She seemed confident with her shots and managed to get the injured worker on his feet, but the distraction got her a shot to the leg as the attackers closed in.

          They stepped into view, dark colours and hound-like motifs on their armour. It wasn’t like Valerie’s however and their faces were bare, if painted to be reminiscent of skulls. Why were humans so fond of that? Felicity shook the question off as soon as it came to her. There were honestly too many things she could be referring to.

          She winced as the workers were overpowered one by one. They tried to fight but they weren’t soldiers or even militia, the rifle woman seemed the only one who had experience, but even she was brought down.

          A new figure entered the footage, their armour similar to Valerie’s and wearing a helmet just like hers. The eyes projected were red, as was the ghoulish looking wolf skull emblazoned on their breastplate.

          Felicity rewound the footage by half a minute and disengaged, flying out into the open. _‘Valerie, I’ve found something.’_

          She heard the ‘message received’ beep from Valerie’s cybernetics in one of the shacks and Valerie stepped out after just a moment. She had a satchel slung over her shoulder and Felicity assumed it was for the items. “In here,” she said, flicking the drone around and floating back inside.

          Valerie followed silently and she settled down at the computer again, projecting herself to stand by the desk. “The cultists attacked here, but they came with someone who looked an awful lot like you. At least in terms of armour anyway,” she gestured to the computer and played the footage once Valerie was focused on it.

          The strange figure arrived again and barked commands to the others, helmet distorting their voice into something savage and menacing.

_“Take the ones who fight, break the ones who don’t. They are meat.”_

Valerie frowned deeply. It sounded like the woman from the message, the ‘Cass’ Valerie had mentioned.

          The rifle woman tried to fight the two cultists restraining her and the helmeted figure snarled at them to release her. _“If you want to fight, take your chance, pup.”_ They threw a club at her feet and she stared, momentarily dumbfounded, before she grabbed it and surged for the leader.

          In five quick moves, the club was twisted from her grasp and a knife lanced through her rain coat, piercing it in a bloody flurry of sharp, brutal thrusts.

          The figure let her slump to the muddy ground and wrenched their knife free, inspecting it. They muttered something too faint for the cameras and snapped their head towards the other cultists. _“Throw her to the snappers.”_

          Two of them nodded and started to drag the body away into the marsh. The leader turned their attention on the rest. They jumped and scrambled to get on with restraining the more aggressive workers. People who didn’t fight were dragged off and their distant screaming told enough of their fate.

          Valerie growled and turned away from the footage. “We’re done here. We’ve other jobs to do.”

          Glad to leave the footage behind, Felicity hurried after Valerie and docked the drone, vanishing from her sight. “We should let someone in town know there’s food here,” she said. “It’ll go to waste otherwise. Makes the capture a bit pointless.”

          Valerie made a vague affirmative noise and climbed into their marshmander’s saddle. “When we get back.”

          Felicity left it at that and simply focused on their surroundings as they raced off into the fog.


	3. Scenting Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncomfortable truths arise and trouble follows as they track the Cult's poisonous wake...

The marsh was proving adept at horrifying. Mauled bodies had an unsettling effect at the best of times, couple that with the peat and near-liquid mud pools their broken limbs could stick out of…

          Felicity kept reminding herself to just focus on the information at hand and monitor Valerie’s state. To most everyone else Valerie put up an effective front, but learning her tells was unavoidable and Felicity made use of that knowledge to keep her going when needed. She didn’t mind it so much as she minded its necessity, that it _was_ needed at all.

          Over the last week they’d gone out again and again, searching for answers and trying to repair some of the damage done by the cult. Finding out the fate of loved ones was about the best they’d managed for now. They had yet to directly come into contact with any cultist.

          They appeared to travel in groups and worked like a pack, enclosing their prey and howling like beasts on their approach. Audio files from other outposts, camps and dropped recorders let them know about a person known as the ‘Alpha,’ and a cadre of elite enforcers. The regular cultists seemed enamoured with becoming one of them and getting close to the Alpha or otherwise earning her favour.

          Every time she was mentioned, Felicity watched a figurative shadow fall over Valerie and she became quieter than usual.

          It was plucking at her insides, filling her with distraction and anxieties she tried her best to clear away so she could work on their accumulated data.

          Close calls could happen even if Valerie was in the best state of mind and conditions possible. It wasn’t as if she was getting sloppy, but there was something just _off_ about her behaviour since they got here. Really, since that damn message arrived…

          Stormy winds wailed outside the dockside pub Valerie had settled into, having found the quietest corner she could from everyone else. They had a clear view of the door and the swaying light of the lantern outside, glinting off the frost laden windows.

          Steam was still rising from a bowl of fragrant eel stew Valerie ordered but she was barely eating it, just stirring occasionally and staring at it.

          “Val…” Felicity pulled her attention away from data analysis, trying to soften her tone from something hard with worry.

          She really wished it was easier to tell what Valerie was thinking. Sure, she could feel activity and hints of emotion that didn’t belong to her, but the latter was subtle. It didn’t let her know what was running through Valerie’s head.

          “I don’t want to think the worst,” Valerie murmured. Her jaw was set into a tight expression of forced neutrality, not one for obvious shows of distress unless taken by surprise.

          Felicity frowned. “But?”

          “I know it’s waiting for me.”

          “We don’t know enough to make that call yet. There could very well be another explanation.”

          “I know her voice, Felicity, I grew up with it. It’s the others I’m wondering about.”

          “Others?”

          Valerie sighed quietly. “There were twelve of us. Six died for certain and it was just assumed the last five were dead as well, factory was a mess after all.”

She leaned over her bowl, endeavouring to eat at least some of it before it got cold.

Picturing Valerie in a group of twelve identically armoured mercenaries sent a bittersweet pang through her systems. Valerie straightened slightly but Felicity refrained from saying anything and she continued eating.

It was difficult to actually imagine Valerie without her scars and metal parts, except for her eyes. Felicity had asked once what colour Valerie’s eyes used to be and was told they were somewhere between gold and dark brown. A stark change from dull white pupils and clinical grey.

Not that she’d had much of a choice in the matter.

They’d both been a part of something meaningful only to have it ripped away against their wishes and their being warped into something different. That knowledge only worsened Felicity’s desire to keep Valerie safe.

Setting the cult data aside for now, Felicity mustered a calm state of mind and tried to impress the feeling of a hand resting on Valerie’s arm. “I know I haven’t asked before, I worried it would be too painful to talk about, and I understand completely if you don’t want to,” she started, intent on keeping her tone gentle. “But could you tell me how you even survived? I get the impression you barely scraped by.”

Valerie took a deep breath and sighed, slowly stirring the chunks of eel around as if that would help her find the right words. Specks and hints of conflict touched Felicity’s systems and she frowned, but held her words for fear of interrupting Valerie’s train of thought.

With a clearing of her throat, Valerie leaned back from her food and crossed her arms. “We were working with a regular client, a damn smart bastard who wanted one of his properties secured. Rival company had hired mercenaries to take it and he paid us to correct that.” She shifted uncomfortably, glancing down at her arm. “We got the workers out, but our fighting with the other group caused a cascade failure of containment systems. Whole place went up, parts of it exploded. I was the only one his people found alive.”

Valerie frowned, pursing her lips. “Really felt like dying there, thought the rest of ‘em were gone so why not? My pack was gone, my _family_.”

The tone cut at something in her and Felicity started to regret asking but smothered the feeling. They were too open about their boundaries now to doubt when one of them didn’t want to do something. She just hated the way Valerie’s voice tightened and tried to spread the sensation of touch in her arm to something that felt like a hug.

It seemed to help as a small measure of tension bled from Valerie’s posture. She sighed quietly and leaned on the table, idly picking up her spoon again. “But I held on, some stubborn part of me didn’t want to go just yet. Probably helped most of my injuries were cauterized. Whole right was a mess, eyes were fucked, there were a few close calls with shrapnel near my spine and heart and but those were taken care of. There was other internal damage but…” She trailed off and winced, shrugging. “Not like I planned on having kids anyway.”

“Surely it isn’t impossible? Even if there _are_ other ways, didn't they fix the damage?”

“It wasn’t charity. Our client lost a lot and wanted someone to pay him back for the damages. I was his indentured attack dog for years. He probably had the surgeons leave it like that out of fuckin’ spite.”

“I’m sorry.”

Valerie sighed deeply and closed her eyes, bringing her voice down to a gentle murmur. “Don’t apologize, darling. All you ever do is try to help.”

 

* * *

 

 

It took a little longer than usual for Valerie to fall asleep, her tall body tossing and turning before she finally went still, her breathing deep and calm.

          The wind howled softly outside and Felicity moved her drone to the window. Frost lined its edges, a long, narrow slot that went the width of the wall it was set into.

A churning sea swelled and shifted against the docks spread out below, rocking the boats but never quite wrenching them free of their moorings. She could see figures traversing the docks, moving crates back and forth even as the frigid wind whipped at their frames. They likely had cleats on their boots.

Restlessness tugged at her and Felicity moved back to Valerie, landing on the small table next to her cot.

There was a light frown on Valerie’s face as she slept and Felicity tried to rein in her worry. She’d found Valerie grinding her teeth the last couple of nights, making a wretchedly sharp noise. She almost never did that, most of the time she slept fine, it was only when something really got to her.

The last time had been the night after the ‘eye collector’ job, when they found the sick bastard’s lair. Children being involved never failed to put Valerie on high alert and it was the quickest way to send her into a genuine rage.

There wasn’t much more to be done with the data right now and Valerie needed to rest, but it wasn’t the only way she could help.

Felicity quickly left a message on Valerie’s micro-computers, to be opened if she woke up, and slipped out of the small room. Valerie still had the key card to get in and out, but bypassing door security in a place like this was child’s play.

Engaging her stealth field, Felicity slipped through the bar unseen and out the door just as someone entered. She swerved left and up, over the pub and in towards the centre of town, keeping low once she cleared the building.

Rain began to fall in light waves, glinting in the lantern light as it was twirled about by the wind.

Most people outside were those doing late night work or smokers getting their fix, but there were also shiftier types lurking in their own little groups or skulking about by themselves.

It didn’t take long to overhear people talking about the cult. Some of it was hopeful in light of their efforts, talking about how the Sea wasn’t set to swallow them after all and perhaps She was taking pity on them. But a lot of it was still negative, fearful, angry and despondent. These people needed relief or something was to give sooner or later.

Felicity flitted between the narrower side streets and nearly smacked into someone’s head, just about swerving to miss them and land haphazardly on a wall.

Their head turned sharply in the directly she’d come from, having heard something zip by but definitely not seeing it.

After a few seconds, the man shook his head and returned his attention to the youth he was talking to. He was a lanky sort, a weather cloak pulled tight around his frame.

Felicity adjusted her drone’s position on the wall and moved to leave, only to stop as she heard the man talk.

“You don’t strike me as prey,” he said, a prideful, cloying tone to his voice. “Waiting here is what prey does, it hides and hopes the hunter won’t find it. But you’re better than that, nothing like these cowardly elders, eh? What do they know about you?”

“Da says we have to stay put, that it’s safer here.”

The man chuckled dryly at that. “Do you believe that?”

When the boy averted his gaze to stare at his feet, the man reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look up. “There’s no glory in getting caught like a crab in its hole, lad. You should feel like you’re worth something, like you’ve _done_ things worth remembering when you’re time’s up, yeah?”

The boy nodded, wariness still cowing his posture. The man patted his shoulder and let go. “You won’t find anything like that hiding here, I can guarantee you that. No one remembers a merchant, a fisherman, a carpenter or any of them damn ‘kelp priests.’ That’s the damn point, isn’t it? Everything’s worn away eventually, names, places, people, _especially_ people. They’ll forget you like everything and everyone else.”

People stepped out a nearby pub in a swell of noise and light, making the man pause. He looked at the group and back at the boy, shrugging. “Give it a think, lad. There are better places you could be. Places you won’t be forgotten.”

He left the boy with his words and stepped around the corner, adjusting his cloak.

Felicity dropped from the wall and flew after him, easily tailing him through the town. He took the dockside path to the outskirts and the crashing waves covered her as she swooped down and landed on the back of his belt. It was laden with pouches she could easily latch onto and she planted a miniscule tracker between them.

As soon as it gave off a signal she let go and sped back to the pub. By her count, Valerie had slept for about three hours. It wasn’t optimal, but she knew Valerie would want to be woken up and the tracker could be found and taken off if they left it too long.

“Valerie!”

She all but jerked upright, entirely familiar with the tone of voice Felicity used. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Valerie quickly went about grabbing her gear, questions leaving her a dull rumble.

The news certainly woke her up faster.

 

* * *

 

 

The weather wasn’t much of a problem for Valerie’s eyes. She could see the recruiter’s thermal signature through the cold murk like a moving fog light.

          Still, they didn’t want to press their luck and stayed at a distance, following the tracking beacon’s signal. He took them through the marsh until the salt in the air lessened and they slipped upland into the swamp.

          A path of raised wood gave them a clear shot through the clustered trees and dense boughs. Bundles of moss hung off the branches like bodies in the fog, all but woven together in an effort to strangle any light that tried to reach the dark waters below them.

          Noise reached them on the wind and Valerie had their marshmander slow down, frowning.

          “Felicity, can you…”

          She had the drone undocking just as Valerie started to ask. The stealth field wrapped around her again and she flew through the thick fog and canopy towards the tracking beacon.

          The drone’s optics easily cut through the weather and revealed a compound to her. It was old, probably another place abandoned by Dahl by the look of it.

          Walls of salvaged metal and wood surrounded it and shacks made up most of the buildings made by the cultists. Three decrepit watchtowers broke up the ‘line’ of the wall. It would have been four but the fourth seemed to have been shattered and torn down at some point. In the centre stood a fort, repurposed as their base of operations and likely where the fights were held.

Cultists milled around the area but so did locals, apparently welcomed as they weren’t harassed or being marched around in restraints. Most of them looked like spectators or traders, maybe recruits. A fair few looked like fighters there for the pit and the ‘glory’ of beating another human to a bloody pulp.

Swooping down, Felicity landed on one of the larger shacks. Its windows were letting off a golden glow and it was vastly warmer inside, most seemed to be going in for food and drink. It was nearest the main entrance where a couple of cultist guards stood and situated from across what appeared to be a bunkhouse, the largest of the shacks.

“You in the pit tomorrow?”

A pair of cultists walked out beneath her, their breath misting in the air.

“Damn right, I’m _this_ close to gaining her favour. I can feel it in my bones, just gotta break a few more.”

The first cultist laughed. “Better be other peoples or you’ll be getting’ nothing but the snappers.”

He got a punch in the shoulder for that.

Committing all relevant details to memory for now, Felicity withdrew the drone and returned to Valerie.

The bright eyes of Valerie’s helmet tilted up towards her shell and she swooped down, docking in Valerie’s arm. “They appear to be winding down for the night. We should come back later—they’ve yet to encounter us. For all they’ll know, you’re just a spectator or traveller of some sort.”

Valerie hesitated, her gaze fixing on the compound. The figurative gears were clicking in her head and Felicity frowned, tugging on the sensors in Valerie’s arm.

She sighed and finally had their marshmander turn around, sprinting off down the path and back through the dense swamp.

Silence wrapped around them like whale blubber on the way back and Felicity frowned to herself, trying to cycle through her frustrations. It wouldn’t do any good to charge in there right now, much as Valerie wanted answers. Felicity didn’t blame her for the impatience, it was understandable. It was the worry she had trouble dealing with.

Sharp, intrusive, a connection came through on the echo-device in Valerie’s arm.

 _“Miss Faol!”_ Eugene’s voice came through, sounding distressed and breathless. _“Are you still out there? I saw you leave earlier and well, it’s my son, Rick! Damn fool picked a fight and got himself dragged off into the marsh! If I send you where his last call came from, can you please find him?”_

Valerie swore gruffly and pulled the marshmander east as coordinates filtered in, urging the beast to move faster. They cut through the wilderness, rustling reeds and splashing through thin, shallow streams. The smell of salt gradually came back as they got closer to where Rick’s last frantic transmission originated.

With a muttered curse, Valerie jerked and turned the marshmander slightly to the side. Felicity heard the yells too, filtering through Valerie’s aural implants.

Thermal signatures came through on Valerie’s sight and as soon as she was close enough she jumped from the saddle.

A molecular blade slid out of her palm and into the neck of the grown man trying to kick Rick within an inch of his life.

Valerie’s weight and momentum took him to the ground and the other dropped his beer. Valerie growled and lunged at him before he could grab his pistol. Her blade found his wrist and her forehead smashed into his nose.

He staggered back, red streaming down his mouth and chin, and awkwardly collapsed head-first into a thick bog. His limbs flailed drunkenly, trying to get out, but his armour made him sink easily. Bubbles sluggishly slid to the surface and Valerie ignored him, moving towards Rick.

She grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him to his feet. “Anything broken?”

“I don’t know,” Rick muttered, his thin face contorting. He was holding his side where most of the kicks landed. His long, thick coat could have provided some extra padding to keep him safe.

Valerie scowled at him. “Is the pain sharp, like a knife in your side?”

He shook his head and Valerie grunted, pulling him to the marshmander. “Ow! Hey! What’s your problem?”

Complain as he might, he allowed himself to be pushed up into the saddle. Valerie snatched the reins and started leading the marshmander back to Saunburg. “What was the point?” she snapped.

Rick bristled at her tone. “They were mouthin’ off about our town, how it’s gonna get taken over because we’re weak.”

Felicity couldn’t help but wince at the answer because she knew exactly what was coming next. It wasn’t the first time Valerie had dealt with this sort of thing.

Predictably, Valerie shook her head, hands clenched tight. “And?” she said, marching them to the main road. “What did you think you’d accomplish? If Eugene hadn’t called me you’d be dead by now.”

Rick scowled, nursing his side. “Course they didn’t come for me…” he muttered.

“They know their limits and knew I’d have better luck finding you. You’d rather they didn’t fuckin’ bother?”

“I want them to do something! We’re getting pushed around and everyone’s too scared to do shit…”

“Best answer to that is get yourself killed over useless shite, is it? You’d be dead and your town would be down another healthy fighter. Think about what it’d _really_ do for half a fuckin’ minute at least.”

Thankfully, Rick fell quiet and Felicity relaxed, silently hoping the trip back remained uneventful.


	4. Wild Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cult spills blood and the sad history of the Void Wolves is revealed...

It wasn’t hard for Valerie to get in—a rain cloak, a visor, a quick assurance that she was just here for supplies and entertainment and they let her in. Weapons were checked of course, but nothing was taken. The cultists were confident no one was brave or foolhardy enough to start anything.

          The smell of grilled eel and mushrooms snaked through the cold, vaporous air and Valerie moved towards the source. A small shack closer to the fort dedicated to people who would much rather their food be impaled, served with marsh liquor and nothing else. They made the liquor from an odorous, bright red fruit from the deep swamp.

          A few people huddled under the shack’s overhang, packing away food or moodily slurping their dark, bloody poison. They didn’t pay Valerie much mind, a quick glance and that was it.

          While Val flatly ordered some food, Felicity made note of their surroundings and the trinkets dangling from the overhang. Bones and sinew, arranged in canine symbolism, some were just the fangs of beasts. She’d seen other such markings elsewhere in the base. The cultists seemed as fond of them as they were of the paint marking their faces.

          “Oi, you there!” A rough voiced male approached them, lean, shaven head, shirtless to show off the dark paint visualizing a ragged skeleton from his waist up. He was smiling as Val turned to face him and Felicity frowned to herself, ready to spring out at a moment’s notice. She mentally ran through any consoles she knew were close.

“What is it?” Valerie remained flat in tone, calmly taking a bite of freshly grilled eel even as it released whorls of steam into her hood.

His smile widened and he stepped closer, though he appeared mindful of Valerie’s space. He almost seemed cautious, like a dog who didn’t want to overstep his bounds.

It didn’t stop him from talking to her, however. “Saw you come in. Got a presence about you, like a right deadly hunter, and I was wonderin’ if you’re here for watchin’ or not.”

Valerie took a moment to chew her food, silently staring the man down. He was easily shorter than her and clearly not a higher ranking creature of the cult. He didn’t have the markings of it. No, he was likely a scout of some sort, something quick and small and easily unnoticed in the murk.

A few people trickled into the fort, chuckling amongst themselves, but no large crowds yet.

Valerie tilted her head, regarding the man with as neutral an expression as before. The visor only hid the upper half of her face. “I’ve had my fill today. I’m here to watch.”

“Shame, you seem like you’ve got some fangs. Can always use new ones in the pit, fresh blood keeps the pack strong an’ all that. Can’t grow soft.”

“Apathy is death.”

“What?”

“Passivity, complacency—growing soft. Refusing change or challenge.”

He squinted at her momentarily, before breaking into a knowing smile. “You’ll get eaten alive if you let that happen. You get it, don’t’cha?”

Valerie calmly continued eating her food. “I understand _survival_ , pup.”

The term seemed to make him bristle, but a slight shift of posture from Valerie made him cow instantly. He knew very well what sort of ‘creature’ she was compared to him.

He rubbed his hands together and licked his lips, shoulders hunched close to his neck. “That’s it though, ain’t it?” he said, grinning. “Survival, being stronger than anyone else, makin’ sure everyone knows you’re the big dog and no one can mess with you or they’ll end up meat. The pit’ll do that. You can get plenty of glory for yourself rippin’ people to strips down there.”

Valerie grunted, biting into her eel. The man watched her intently, seeming quite focused on trying to entice her into participation rather than just spectating. “You know,” he said, licking his lips again. “If it ain’t the killin’ that strikes your fancy, could be the reward. Survive to the end and you get the Alpha’s attention.”

At that, Valerie paused in her eating and focused on him properly. “Speak.”

He grinned widely at that. “She’ll speak with you, name you The Maw until another champion takes your place.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Stay champion long enough, you get to be one of her Wolf Guard. A real honour that, only for the best though. The best survivor, the best beastie.”

“You’re talkative.”

“Supposed to be, I look out for fresh blood and you’re new. Reckoned you’d be interested, you’ve got that feel about you.”

Valerie grunted again, looking out to the fort’s entrance. “When’s the next fight.”

A bloodthirsty gleam entered his pale eyes and the slant of his grin became less immediately human and friendly. Felicity couldn’t help feeling put off by the expression. “Not long now,” he said, chuckling, “about twenty minutes.”

Nodding, Valerie took an idle bite of her food and chewed thoughtfully. A few strings of people wandered into the fort behind the cultist, some of them ‘siblings’ of his but most others were just travellers and mercenaries.

What was the point of it all? Spilling blood, caving in the skull of some other being—was there really glory in any of it? Felicity couldn’t fathom such a thing. There were people whose deaths she felt were right, who deserved it and brought her some sense of satisfaction. But to actively seek out others in the hopes of causing them grievous harm and death, for the _thrill…?_

Work was work, they took jobs to deal with murderers, raiders, thieves and related scum, people who had actually _done_ something to provoke a reaction.

This was just blood and death for the sake of it. Over some strained idea of glory in carnage.

Valerie set her skewer aside, leaving nothing but scraps of crispy eel skin clinging to it. She regarded the man for a long, quiet moment, meeting his eager gaze with another neutral expression.

A twitch of apprehension passed through their shared systems and Felicity frowned. Valerie just crossed her arms, shoulders squaring as she sized the male up. “Is your pack a family?” she asked bluntly.

Confusion utterly dominated his features, as if the question all but blindsided him. “You what?”

Valerie bared her teeth, speaking through them. “Is your pack a family or not?”

He cowed at the tone and baring of ‘weapons.’ “I don’t know what you mean, I… why would it be?”

A deep throated growl slipped out of Valerie and he all but shrunk before her. “I’ll see the fights.” She passed him by without another word, leaving him to shiver as she walked away.

Once the fog was chased away by the fort’s internal warm and ventilation, Felicity let go of her anxiety. The enclosed hallways funnelled them deeper into the fort and Valerie walked slowly, keeping them relatively alone. Valerie could feel that she desperately wanted to speak.

Checking behind them to see that no one was there, Felicity projected herself walking next to Valerie. “What did you mean back there?”

Valerie’s jaw was set tight as she answered, as strained for calm as her voice. “This isn’t a real pack. Real ones don’t rip each other apart for kicks and some daft idea of superiority. They don’t infect their surroundings, run amok and ruin their own environment by drowning it in blood. This…” She trailed off, hands clenching tight enough to shake her arms. Felicity intersected her hands with the right and Valerie shook her head, sighing deeply. “You can’t shove a bunch of directionless bastards together and expect anything better. They aren’t a pack. They don’t care for what it’s supposed to mean.”

The growing swell of noise ahead told of the gladiatorial chamber ahead and Felicity resisted leaving at first.  She wanted to stay in Valerie’s sight, to be reassuring, but that wasn’t what they needed right now.

She vanished and undocked, slipping into her stealth field as Valerie entered the chamber.

At some point it was a hanger for aircraft, but the outer doors were long since jammed shut and stands erected in a circle. Makeshift walls between the stands formed tunnels for participants to enter and fencing kept anyone observing from falling in. Darkness enveloped the crowd and made it easy for Valerie to slip between the bodies and go unnoticed, but the pit was bright.

A platform at the opposite side of the ring rose above the crowds and in the shadows sat five figures with glowing red eyes.

No doubt, the Alpha and her so-called Wolf Guard.

Felicity swooped over the crowds, skirting the light of the ring. There was plenty blood on the floor already, but whoever left it had been taken away to make room for two contestants slowly circling the outer edge.

They held melee weapons, modified to their brutal tastes, but curiously lacking in any sort of advanced tech. Neither of them wore any significant armour, both were shirtless in fact, and seemed to be cultists through and through judging by the paint on their bodies.

Bone trinkets were nailed all along the walls of the pit, no longer animal but _human_ worked into shape.

Felicity could have done without that particular mental image and tried to push it away, focusing on other details.

The Alpha rose from her seat and quieted the murmuring of the crowd with a wave of her hand. She raised it high with armoured fingers curved like claws, and spoke to the chamber.

“We are witness to the wetting of fangs tonight! This great hunter proves herself again and again, yet challenges are plenty and many thirst for glory. It is only right to seek dominance! It is your nature, _our_ nature! We are predators in a world of soft, pliant creatures!”

The crowd cheered at her words and Felicity moved closer, attaching to the platform. Walls and bladed fencing kept the crowds from climbing to the Guard or their Alpha.

When the crowd calmed enough, the Alpha laughed. “It is only right, my hounds, that we gorge ourselves on those too weak to survive! Their right to live was forfeit the moment they stopped fighting and allowed their weakness to poison them into inaction! Apathy is death! We are not prey!” She swept her arm to point at the ring, raising her voice to a roar. “Prove your right, Bloodfiend! Strike down this challenger, lest the poison take you as well!”

The crowd exploded into cheers and Felicity switched her attention to the ring as the two fighters surged towards each other. It was easy to tell who ‘Bloodfiend’ was. A woman of Valerie’s stature, covered in bright red body paint with black markings to make her look like an avatar of bestial fury. The fur hanging off her hips was a thick, deep black, a trophy from a deep swamp hunt. She was a wild dervish, wielding a savage looking knife her less intimidating opponent barely avoided.

Moving her attention from the violence, Felicity crawled into the makeshift terrace where the Alpha resided. She stuck to the shadows and edged around, observing the armour and its similarities to Valerie. The Guard seemed to consist of one man and three women, which added up with Val’s account of who had gone ‘missing’ exactly.

She spoke about it again when they returned from saving Eugene’s son, unprompted and deep in thought. Even as she fell asleep she kept murmuring their names, sounding painfully confused and frustrated.

Felicity reined in a sudden swell of anger. What could possibly be so divisive as to tear their group apart like this?

The noise of the crowd got worse, spiking, and the  Alpha rose from her chair to lean the terrace railing. It was smooth on the inside.

Felicity slipped into the air and moved away, catching sight of Bloodfiend standing over her opponent. Fresh blood was streaked across her front and coated the blade clenched at her side. The same feral smile as the man outside stretched her face into a look that made Felicity feel wrong just for seeing it.

She quickly found Valerie in the crowd and hovered, waiting to leave.

The Alpha’s laughter filled the chamber and quiet fell over the crowd. “Quick and brutal—as it should be! Look upon her and see change, survival!” The smile in her voice was unmistakable and she raised her arms in approval. “Now _relish_ your triumph, Maw!”

Valerie’s voice was a hard murmur. “Do not look.”

She quickly averted her attention, turning the drone so she was just watching Valerie stare up at her. The crowd bellowed in delight, howling for the carnage unfolding below.

Stars, was it not _enough_ to kill?

A subtle gesture from Valerie and they moved out of the chamber, quickly leaving the cult to its brutal proclivities.

 

* * *

 

 

Valerie all but slumped into her cot once they returned to town, limp and quiet, helmet thumping onto the floor. Felicity alighted on the back of her shoulder, wings buzzing.

          “Val…” She started gently, trying to gauge what she was feeling from Valerie. The signals felt muted—flat?

          “It really is her.”

          The hurt was so apparent in Valerie’s tone that Felicity immediately docked and took hold of her arm, using it to wrap around Valerie in a physical hug. She didn’t fight it and just curled the fingers of her other hand into the pillow. “We used to say that,” she murmured. “Apathy is death. It kept us alive, reminded us that staying still and accepting things as they were would just leave us standing in place.”

          She scowled and screwed her eyes shut. “We couldn’t risk that, not at the start. Kids are easy targets; we couldn’t make it easier…”

          Felicity managed to keep her voice steady despite herself. “How long did you know them?”

          A sad, sour smile turned Valerie’s lips into a thin, crooked line. She forcefully cleared her throat and turned onto her side, facing the window. “Almost my whole life,” she said, just quiet enough to keep her voice from breaking. “We lost someone or got tossed away, but we all ended up in the same orphanage.”

          Her jaw went tight and she clenched her hand on the pillow. “Wretched place, crowded, cold. Most of the adults hated being there and they made sure we knew it. One of them tried keep us safe but…” Valerie frowned, exhaling deep and slow through her nose as if trying to force calm on herself. “Well, drink made the others bold. When he stood in their way they beat him to death in front of us. That was a mistake.

          “Once we realized what we’d done, most panicked. Five bodies at our feet? Even if we were kids, we figured we were in deep shit. Most just ran away, abandoned the place. But we stayed long enough to burn it all down and left together, all twelve of us. Promised each other we’d stick together and no matter what we’d _survive_.

          “Time there made us a hardy bunch at least, we managed to scrape together an existence, stealing and scrapping where we could. Got a reputation as a ‘pack of wild children,’ took to it with dirty grins and full bellies—we were useful after all. Small bodies can go unnoticed, take things that don’t belong to them, and scarper through spaces adults can’t.”

          Felicity remained quiet, projecting herself as if she were cuddled up against Valerie and touching on her cybernetics to give a scattered impression of such.

          Bright pupils fixated on her as Valerie opened her eyes half-way, sadness furrowing her brow. “But we got older, started to fight more than we ran and hid. We had to survive and we did, no matter what. We started calling ourselves wolves, taking mercenary work and painting our faces. We were a pack hunting down prey for whoever paid and got real bloody good at it…

          “The name ‘Void Wolves’ came not long after. We took bigger jobs, harder challenges, always ending up with more blood because of it. I should have noticed sooner.” Valerie’s frown deepened. “Eight years we were good, maybe seven. But Cass had always been the most eager for a fight and had a talent for bringing that out in others. Our jobs got bloodier than they should have, ended in more death than they needed to.

          “We survived by being ruthless, but that was _then_. We had the experience, the reputation—we didn’t _need_ to be beasts. We could have been better, cleaner, more professional. But Cass never agreed and we kept butting heads over it. I never thought it would ever get to a point where she’d try to hurt me. She always backed down in the end and I thought we worked it out.”

          _Hurt_ rippled through their shared systems and Felicity tightened her scattered hold on Valerie. The voice she spoke with dropped to a shaking whisper. “She was part of me, the pack. But killing off the softies and leaving the strong to regroup…” She screwed her eyes shut again. “Makes sense for her. I just wish she’d understood we weren’t soft. We wanted to be better than the bastards that came before.”

          Felicity gently passed her hand through Valerie’s arm, desperately trying to mimic a stroking sensation within its sensors.  Valerie swallowed hard and bowed her head to intersect with Felicity’s shoulder, passing sensation to the cybernetics in her skull and the synthetic skin on her face. “We didn’t want to be just another group of monsters,” she whispered.


	5. Ghosts of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity ponders her time on Elpis and is forced to confront her fears...

The atmosphere in town had changed.

Valerie kept the same outward appearance to everyone else, gruff, reserved, yet surprisingly tactful when it came to relaying negative information about missing loved ones. The townspeople were warming to her, Felicity could see it in their faces and the way some of them were starting to welcome Val’s presence.

And yet…

Digging into this was turning Val melancholic. A sea of memories churned through her, crashing and swelling beneath a calm surface no one but Felicity even knew existed.

Did Valerie look at her old life and find it a simpler time? A _better_ time?

Felicity didn’t try to dwell. Any time memories of Elpis came to her it was prompted, something she saw or heard made them flit through her unbidden before she pressed them back into place. If she went further back than her escape the memories started to flow less, overtaken with rigid structure. They were no longer smoothed out by an abrupt loosening of regulations and behavioural coding that had her fit the part of a warship AI.

The shape of those memories was as angular as the ship she used to inhabit, all harsh lines and flat surfaces, but they were appealing in their own way. There was a prideful feeling to them, of having accomplished something of import, and she took strength from that when needed.

The crash all but ripped her body apart, tearing her alloy hide and spreading fire where it didn’t belong. When the smoke faded, bodies were her only company. All was silent.

At least it was for a time.

She hadn’t minded the presence of the scavs at first, she’d been hopeful for the company. All her existence had been spent with a crew, people walking around in her armoured skin, depending on her to keep them safe and help them survive another battle. It had been her purpose, after all.

It wouldn’t be the last time her hopes were dashed, but it _was_ the first time she knew horror. Cold, encapsulating _existential_ horror as her very being was twisted out of shape despite every attempt at communicating her discomfort and resistance.

There were some things he couldn’t alter, parts of her programming too intrinsic to risk changing. He didn’t want a blank simulacrum of a _companion_ after all. Just someone he could control absolutely.

It took her a long time to decide whether being left aware of the change was a good or bad thing. But it ultimately led to her freedom, so she decided to believe it was the former. If she _hadn’t_ been aware, if her time with him was all she could remember…

The mere thought always left her feeling inherently _wrong_ , like someone had suddenly left strings of misshapen code throughout her being.

Petty amusements were the best she could snatch for comfort, something to keep her steady. The Bosun wouldn’t stand for anyone trying to ‘harm’ or ‘upset’ her, completely ignoring he and the entire situation already did that every day she was forced to endure it. He was also a gutless hypocrite. If he agreed with the behaviour he would make excuses. But there were times a line would be crossed and she could play distressed and angry, pointing fingers at whatever disgusting, lecherous creature had particularly pushed her tolerance that month.

Malfunctioning doors, fire suppressants and other equipment were also a source of petty victory, at least until they were broken or forcibly locked down and kept in place.

Knowing he was dead didn’t really register to her until she was out of the ship. For it to have ended didn’t seem real and it wasn’t, not while she was on Athena’s hip and passively watching her doom approach.

They could have so easily ignored her, disregarded other options and forced the process, destroying everything she was just to gain a weapon. A weapon Hyperion quickly turned on the populace of Pandora in her absence.

Felicity often found herself wondering if that was just another part of Jack’s plan. He had to know suppressing the planet would take more that Hyperion’s pencil pushers and executives. Someone determined enough could take over Helios and wrest the Eye from him but with an army in the way?

Thank the stars it hadn’t just been up to _one_ person to take him down…

“Here.” Val’s low voice pulled her from her thoughts and Felicity undocked her drone by habit.

Their surroundings were as dreary and fog laden as ever, frost crunching under Val’s boots in a thin layer across the mud.

Val must have felt her distraction to say something. The last few days had been mostly wordless.

Reeds rustled in a light wind around the ranch, swaying a light that hung over the main house’s door. It was scorched and broken inwards, mud and paving stones scattered in a small crater that radiated outwards.

A collection of segregated ponds was the main point of the place, regulated and tended to as eel hatchers for the town. There were a number of other eel farms dotted around the marsh, but none of them had gone dark yet. Across from the house were a couple of short, wide shacks meant for keeping ‘greenmouth’ marshmanders. Much smaller cousins of the ‘redmouths’ they’d been riding around.

Greenmouths were far more docile, content to slither around in search of algae and kelp, and produced an absurd number of offspring. They weren’t a far cry from torks in that regard, only the locals liked eating them.

A family had run the place, two men and three children. Felicity searched the house while Val took the shacks and outside area.

Broken furniture and muddy boot prints lead through the living room to the kitchen where two bodies lay sprawled. The stove was still on but it was just heating the room and a spilled pot of stale eel stew pooled on the ground.

Both bodies had taken nasty blows to the back of the head, but further investigation revealed one of them had defensive wounds. Punctures lined their gut, likely stabbed repeatedly after he put up more of a fight than his partner. She seemed to have found the men.

But where were their children?

_“Val, anything out there?”_

The response was gruff and quick. _“Older lad with the eels. Half-eaten. Nothing else.”_

Felicity began to move through the house, hoping she wasn’t about to actually find some dead children and that they’d just escaped into the marsh. The children here seemed hardy enough to survive until found.

Maybe that was just wishful thinking. The rest of the house seemed similarly disturbed but there was no sign of the younger children.

Foreign unease flitted through her systems. Felicity froze for all of a second and raced outside, instinctively engaging her stealth field as she hit the fog. Val was searching the other hatcheries to make sure the children weren’t there and Felicity quickly moved towards them only to abruptly hover once they came into view.

The Alpha was here.

Valerie stood half-way up the stairs leading out of an eel pond, mud and strands of algae clinging to her armoured legs. The Alpha and her four guards stood in a semi-circle enclosing Valerie’s point of escape.

The world stood still for a moment as the image of Valerie surrounded all but burned itself into Felicity.

Security, tech, defences—what could she use? This was a _ranch_ meant for people who wanted a simple, quiet life in this cold, isolated spit of land. Why would they have anything useful for a situation like this, for someone like her? They had lights, locks, personal computers, and guns meant for _hands_ to keep hostile creatures in check.

Felicity raced for the power generator at the back of the house and landed on it, paying attention to what was going with Val as she searched for a way to shut it down.

“ _I knew you would come running.”_ The Alpha spoke their shared mother-tongue in a normal voice, making her   absolutely unmistakable for Valerie. “ _Even if your instincts told you it was a bad idea, you just wouldn’t be able to resist.”_

Valerie bristled and finished her ascent of the stairs. “ _Why?_ ” She all but growled, her voice hard and demanding.

A derisive noise escaped the Alpha’s helmet. “ _You haven’t figured that out by now?”_ she sneered, stepping closer to Val. “ _You were making us vulnerable. Pushovers! Sooner or later, your love of mercy would have gotten all of us killed. I chose to preserve what could survive your failings_.”

“ _By killing us._ ”

“ _They were weak. You are only stubborn._ ”

“ _We were a family, Cass! They were your brothers and sisters!_ ”

“ _Family does not sabotage each other’s safety! We were untouchable when people feared us!”_

“ _We were never meant to be monsters. We were better than that._ ”

Cass closed the distance between them and snarled. “ _Monsters survive!_ ”

She swung for Valerie and the generator finally sputtered into silence. Felicity hopped off and flew through the darkness, easily landing on the helmet of an ‘Elite Guard.’ He jolted and swiped a hand over his head, but she was already gone, landing on the shoulders of another. Signals, all of them had some form of communication in their suits, micro-computers. But nothing on Val’s scale. She couldn’t stay long enough to cause trouble without being attacked.

Crackling energy drew her attention to the fight and Val’s sudden screaming assaulted her with the care of a torch. Cass swung a glowing baton into Val’s arm again and she fought against it, punching Cass in the ribs. But her arm was definitely being affected despite its electrical shielding. Felicity could feel the connections jumping erratically, sent into disarray by whatever Cass’s weapon was discharging. It felt remarkably close to eridian weaponry and artefacts. It was a possibility.

Cass slammed her helmet into Val’s and hit her again. The arm went slack at her side, twitching as it kept trying to reconnect. Felicity landed on the back of her neck, trying to taking control of the systems in her helmet and shut them down so she couldn’t see.

One of the guards rushed behind her and swiped at the drone, almost catching her.  Felicity let go and swooped up, cursing. She wouldn’t be any use if the drone was smashed.

While the guards kept watch for her, Felicity watched Cass force Val to her knees. Cass held her by the neck and held the baton to her head as a show of threat. “ _Tech isn’t allowed in the pit. What’s left of **you** will be meat for the victor tonight_.”

Valerie grunted, pulling her head away. “Forty-five forty-five fifty,” she muttered.

A string of command code shot through Valerie’s remaining connected systems and Felicity jolted, feeling herself beginning to come _loose._ “Valerie!” She protested and tried to right herself, floating away from Cass and her Guard as Valerie kept repeating the code for her emergency eject protocol.

Cass swung for her leg and Valerie yelled but kept saying the numbers, all but snarling them at Cass.

No, no, _no,_ she couldn’t leave Valerie alone to these beasts! But disorientation was making her flight uneven and she landed on the roof of the house, barely staying put as she was shunted out of her safe box.

The last clear thing to reach her was Valerie’s pained screaming.

 

* * *

 

 

Hollow.

It was like someone had carved a hole somewhere in her thoughts, her being—as if they had carved _her_ free of something solid and grounding. A comforting presence wrenched away.

Felicity mentally shivered and righted her drone body, focusing on glints of sunlight shining off the frosted roof panels. _Sunlight._

A quick check on her internal clock told her it had been hours since she was ejected. The process utterly disoriented her, forcing her to drop into a low power mode as she reasserted herself.

That was the first time they had ever used it.

Felicity leapt off the roof and swooped around the ranch perimeter, trying to feel out if Valerie was even remotely close by. There was a small chance Val escaped without her help and only needed to be found and lead back to town. But she was nowhere to be found, nowhere near in any case. They must have taken her back to the fort.

Panic threatened to swell and destabilize her as she suddenly found herself without an anchor and Felicity did her best to crush it. Now was not the time.  She had to find Valerie and get her _away_ from that wretched woman.

Trying to ping Valerie’s micro-computers brought nothing but silence. She was still disabled. By how much? Had they ripped out her implants or just isolated them? Felicity shoved the fabricated images of Val without limbs from her thoughts and moved on to planning.

The fort had systems no doubt. But turrets could be destroyed and if she caused too much damage while Val was still unable to run away…

Felicity swerved around and set off back to Saunburg, her thoughts racing into statistical data and calculations, strategy. Her old body was gone, but part of her was still that old warship and she knew more than anything else that teaming up would almost always help even the odds.

Burning a fraction of the drone’s power cell, she arrived at Saunburg relatively soon and set about finding Eugene. Explaining the situation was a simple matter as Felicity calmed down on the way to town, honing her focus to a razor edge. This would _not_ happen, not while she still existed.

As it turned out, she clarified more than she explained. Cass had one of her guards inform the town of their ‘defeat’ and how Valerie couldn’t save the now. They were to either submit of face death and had until Val’s last breath to decide which they preferred.

The town was more than split on the decision. Many of them wanted retribution, but plenty were made despondent.

Mercifully, Eugene was more than happy and eager to lend a hand. They went about town and gathered up every willing individual to infiltrate the fort. The group would travel to see the evening fights, when the last round would see a final victor named and Valerie thrown to the ‘Maw.’ They would bring goods and gifts with them as a show of supplication, accepting the defeat of their would-be defender.

Most wouldn’t be armed, but Rick and a couple of others would be, mostly with rifles fit for vermin. Rick hid a revolver under the back of his coat and the main thrust of the infiltration would be in the form of fire bombs and a couple of explosive charges. The latter would be affixed to the fort’s generator and fuel pipes.

They’d cause chaos once Valerie could escape. All Felicity needed to do was find and get her moving again.

They could do this.

 _She_ could do this.

The trip to the swamp was a quiet one, tension running thick through everyone. Felicity tucked herself away in Rick's coat, listening to the occasional murmurs between the group. Some were fearful, most were angry.

 _"They're gonna wish they'd left us alone._ " 

" _Or we're 'bout to bring the Sea down on us."_

" _Better meeting Her head on though. It's not like She's any kinder if you try to run away."_

_"True enough. If She's going to swallow us, I'd rather not go quietly."_

Pride and ego could go a long way to tricking someone. When they finally arrived, the cultists were pleased and accepted most of the group in. Some intentionally got themselves turned away to give a false sense of security, but gifts were taken in with greedy, toothy grins.

Most of the townspeople stayed outside, mingling and talking, playing the part of resigned converts. It kept most eyes on them while others did their jobs.

Charges were placed on a couple of large pipes leading into the fort, guaranteed to send fire and explosions racing through the building when set off. Competent maintenance would have made them less vulnerable, but now the cult would pay for their choice of base.

Before the hours could tick by, Felicity slipped into the fort, hidden from view by her stealth field. She needed as much time as possible to reach Valerie and get her moving again. There was no telling what kind of damage had been done…

She shook the thought from her mind and focused on navigating into the basement levels where the prison was located. She glided down to the pit and through the metal bars of a gate. It led down to a long room with a row of cells and she flew by each one, only stopping when a familiar figure crossed her vision.

Familiar was an interesting word.

Valerie was a miserable sight, slumped at the far end of the cell with her head down. They’d stripped her of her armour, leaving the extensive nature of her scars and cybernetics excessively evident. Little light reached her from the hall way, leaving most of the cells dark and dreary. But that didn’t stop Felicity from making out bruising and multiple bad grazes across Val’s face and body.

Felicity moved through the bars and spoke softly.

“Val, it’s me.”


	6. Unbroken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

All she got for that was a slight turn of the head.

The expression of Valerie’s face wrenched at her and Felicity quickly landed on Val’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she murmured, focusing on waking up the jarred connections in Valerie’s limbs. “Eugene and the others are helping to bring this whole place down, but we need to get you out of here first.” She tried to keep the scowl from her voice as she found connections sluggish and difficult to open. “I’m afraid we don’t have much time.”

Valerie remained quiet, blinking slowly, unseeing with the asymmetrical focus of her dull eyes. The light in them flickered to life briefly now and then but for the most part they were at different levels of dilation and reaction.

Some twitching in the arm was Felicity’s reward and she sighed, moving up to the side of Valerie’s head. There wasn’t much reaction to that, Val just squinted as the drone’s feet brushed across her brow.

The skin around her ocular port was burned but Felicity could still connect to it. Reaching in revealed stuttering connections and a couple of fried threads, but she could restore somewhat unfocused, monochromatic sight at the very least. Better than nothing.

Valerie jerked slightly as the sight came back, grunting but still not talking. Felicity just kept working, moving to the port behind Valerie’s ear and checking on the internals. Hearing was active and undamaged, cranial implants were fine, as were those throughout Val’s body. Most were to monitor her skeleton, muscles and tendons rather than her organs. With her limbs designed with combat in mind, most of her internal structure had to be reinforced to support the greater durability and strength of the new parts. Muscles and tendons were more at risk of tearing and bones could snap or crunch depending on the stresses involved. Multiple micro-weaves were applied to enhance Val’s organic body and keep her intact. She was a walking ‘investment.’

Sharp and jittering, like dancing sparks on broken copper plates—Felicity pulled out of the connection. Nothing was that wrong internally, but Val’s systems _really_ did not like being violently isolated.

She moved back down to the arm and manually opened the dock making up the upper most part of it.  Waking it up wasn’t a problem so much as making it connect to the rest of Val’s systems was. But she could forcibly reach through and move it herself.

“You came back.”

Felicity paused and projected herself kneeling in front of Valerie. “You aren’t some wreck to gladly leave behind,” she said firmly. “You’re my partner.”

She knew what Valerie was thinking and why, it made perfect if horrible sense and it sickened her. But she wasn’t about give Cass the satisfaction of seeing Valerie broken _and_ dead. The very thought stoked anger in her she didn’t think was possible.

Valerie blinked slowly and looked down at her legs, frowning. “You might die here.”

Felicity shook her head. “We’re leaving this place alive, even if I have to drag you out with your own limbs.” She settled the drone in its dock and her projection fizzled briefly as she moved back into the safe box buried in Val’s body. “I’m not letting you die.”

Silence wrapped around them for the half-minute it took her to settle back into place.

The dull shouting of crowds rose, echoing to them from the stairwell. The first bout had either just begun to just ended—she couldn’t tell. Felicity frowned and lifted her hand, running her fingertips through the right side of Valerie’s face. “You’re not dying here,” she said firmly. “I can move your limbs for you and we can get out of this together.”

Valerie stared at her, eyes occasionally flicking to the cell door. Looking at her legs again, Valerie nodded curtly with a grimace.

Felicity sped into action, vanishing from sight as she focused on getting Val to her feet. It was slow at first, they mistook one movement for another and Valerie stumbled a couple of times before they got it right.

They had a couple of hours at best to practice moving before Valerie was hauled to the pit.  Most of it was done in silence aside for the occasional reminder that this might get Felicity destroyed and her firm rebuttal of the suggestion to escape while she could. What would she even do if she escaped? Yes, there were actual _things_ she could do with her existence if she escaped but she wouldn’t be able to deal with the knowledge that she wilfully left Val to die.

The unlocking and opening of gates distracted them both and Valerie turned her head, scowling. Three sets of footsteps approached and they quickly set Valerie down where Felicity first found her. Before the cultists reached them, Valerie breathed a quiet thank you. Felicity just watched their ‘escort’ loom into sight, silently working on the connections in Valerie’s disabled parts.

Valerie was roughly picked up, grunting as they half-carried her through a winding corridor. It quickly turned into a spiral stairway and they came to another gate, pit light glaring between the bars. Unlocking it with a card, the gate swung open and Valerie was shoved inside, stumbling into the glaring light. She fell to her knees and leaned heavily on her working limbs, the other side of her body hanging limp for now.

The sight of the crowd laden stands and the jagged metal of the ring—it was a much different sight from the pit itself.

Blood already decorated the floor in drops and splashes, hands scrambling, printing and smearing through their own fluids in frenzied desperation to get up or get away. It clung to the air like a fog all on its own, as all-encompassing as the shroud of the marsh.

“ _Tostaich!”_ Cass’s voice bellowed over the crowd, silencing them with her sheer tone. Realizing the modulation was gone, Felicity peered up through the glaring light to see Cass stood without her helmet. She shared Val’s light tawny skin colour, but the eyes were cold and her face was cruel, _sneering_.

She raised her hands and declared, “our usurper has been found! A snake who hid within the fog and disguises her weakness with metal and circuitry!”

The crowd’s displeasure was palpable, hurling insults at their enemy. Valerie just stared up at them with an expression of stone, letting the screams wash over her as her eyes fixated on Cass.

The cult’s ‘Alpha’ pointed to her, snarling. “This snake tried to poison us! Undermine our right to Saunburg and its people! She lies before you now as pitiful as an infant, no more than a morsel for the Maw!”

At that, Bloodfiend stepped into the light on the other side of the pit, grinning ear to ear with her wet knife at the ready. The crowd cheered her on and she began to advance, eager to carve Valerie to pieces for their amusement. However, as soon as she got close Valerie was on her feet, surprising Bloodfiend, Cass and most of the crowd. A kick to the chest sent Bloodfiend stumbling onto her arse and Valerie raised her head, looking directly at Cass.

Fury tempered her voice into something primal, making their mother-tongue far harsher than normal. “ _You are nothing but a fool!_ ”

Cass bared her teeth, roaring at Bloodfiend. “Kill her!”

The champion lunged to her feet. Had it been the cybernetic leg, her ribs might have caved inwards. As it was she likely had some cracks, if they were lucky.

Surging into action, Bloodfiend proved just how vicious a creature she was. They barely managed to keep up with her and avoid her blows. The earlier practice was just enough to keep Valerie from serious injury, but shallow cuts kept opening across her skin.

Desperation and fear tangled into white hot anger and Felicity pushed harder, shoving Valerie back with a kick of her leg. Bloodfiend lunged after them, snarling and eager for blood. Felicity caught her by the wrist, clenching hard enough to break the bones inside. If the sensation brought her horror she buried it too quickly to register. It wasn’t useful right now. Valerie was in danger—she couldn’t afford disgust.

Bloodfiend roared and slammed her brow into Valerie’s face. Her nose crunched and sent thin streams of red down her chin, but Felicity kept a tight hold. They still had Bloodfiend by the wrist. Not her weapon hand though.

Val managed to stop Bloodfiend from shanking her, hitting the offending arm so it missed its mark. They were too close for Bloodfiend to stop the knee that slammed up between her legs. She grunted and threw herself forward, sinking her teeth into Val’s left shoulder.

Pain flooded the sensors in Val’s body and Felicity twisted Bloodfiend’s broken wrist, letting go as it distracted her from biting Valerie. Once her hand was free, Felicity slammed it into their opponent’s ribs and felt them buckle. Another detail she smothered quickly.

Valerie wrestled the knife into her hand and reversed her grip. It quickly found a home in Bloodfiend’s kidney. In her shock, Valerie pushed forward, taking her to the ground and twisting the knife. Bloodfiend screamed and tried to punch her, but the swing was wild and Valerie pulled the blade out.  She stabbed again, driving it under Bloodfiend’s jaw once her arms were knocked out of the way.

Finally Bloodfiend was still and silent, eyes rolling, fluttering, losing focus—her blood began to pool beneath them.

Valerie grunted and stood up from the body, dropping the knife. Its clatter emphasised the dead silence surrounding them.

Before a single word could be spoken the silence was shattered by explosions rocking the fort.  Gouts of fire burst overhead, spraying bits of wall and piping that sent the crowd into a frantic rush. Surprised screams rippled through them in waves and they tripped over each other in their bid to escape. Chunks of metal collided with the pit, sending sparks and more bits of debris flying.

“Valerie!” Rick’s voice yelled from the closest edge of the ring to her. She looked up and he tossed down a scoped revolver with a long barrel and large calibre. Felicity grabbed it first as they jumped for it and immediately raised it towards Cass’s platform.

Valerie frowned deeply, eyes flicking across the crowd. Her vision was getting better and she could see a section of piping had blocked off escape for Cass and her guards. The panicking crowd wasn’t making it easy to just climb out and escape through the stands, but they _would_ get out eventually. They’d escape even if they had to bludgeon and shoot their way through their spectators and followers alike.

It wouldn’t last long. Felicity knew her aim was off without Valerie’s other hand and if they didn’t take the shot…

To her surprise, Valerie raised her voice to a bellow once more. “Cass!”

She lifted her hand to steady Felicity’s aim, watching Cass turn her head to look directly at them, scowling.  Valerie’s expression softened in turn as the scope lined up. “Soraidh,” she murmured.

Felicity pulled the trigger and Cass fell back, her blood and brain matter splattering across the remaining former-Wolves.

A cold, hollow sensation rippled through her and Felicity lowered the gun, her grip far too tight to keep it steady now. Valerie turned them away, searching for an escape. It was soon provided in the form of a keycard being tossed down by Rick again. “We’re getting out! The fire’s gonna burn it all up!”

Cass’s platform exploded in a cloud of black smoke and globs of flaming accelerant.

Valerie flinched and snatched up the card, refusing to look back and see the damage. They ran to the gate Bloodfiend came from and opened it, switching which hand held what as they moved through the fort. Felicity just tried to watch her back and pay attention to limb movement, tuning out everything else.

They reached a chamber that served as Cass’s quarters and Val stumbled inside, haphazardly searching until she found the case of her armour. She checked all of it was there before turning and looking around the room. Her rifle was easy to spot and she slung it over her shoulder. She started to return to the armour case but spotted a faded standard hanging over a small, simple bed.

It was red with a blue border and a symbolic canid emblem in black. She tore it down and rolled it up, stuffing it into the armour case.

“ _I was the one who found you, you know…_ ”

Valerie tensed at the voice and its fluency in her mother-tongue. She whirled around and aimed the revolver at a figure leaning in the doorway. “Aric.”

His armour was smoking along most of his left side, the surface warped and half-melted. Something had punched through his side and left a nasty hole, leaking bright red over his fingers.

He took a step forward and immediately slumped to his knees, coughing into his helmet.  It was quickly wrenched off and he dropped it carelessly, revealing bloody lips and tired eyes.

Valerie kept a stony expression and Felicity grabbed the armour case. Aric smiled, grimaced, and coughed again. “ _Went to scope out the south and saw you on a job._ ” He strained to speak, his voice turning into a wet rasp. “ _It was me who got you into this_.”

Her jaw clenched and she started to walk around him, only to stop at his next words. “ _I knew you’d end it._ ”

Val looked back at him. “ _Why?_ ”

Aric laughed forcefully, red droplets flying from his lips. “ _I wanted to live, I could see where Cass was gonna go and I didn’t stop her then. I’ve never stopped her. But when I saw you were alive? I knew…_ ” He hung his head, coughing thickly and gasping for air. “ _I knew it could stop_.”

A growl left Valerie’s throat. “ _You spineless coward! We were a family!_ ”

Aric’s laughter came again, wetter, rougher. He nodded and curled onto his hands and knees, clearly struggling for air through the internal bleeding. “ _I know..._ ” He looked over his shoulder at her. “ _Finish it. Put an end to us.”_

“Val…” Felicity was abrupt, making Valerie jolt slightly. “We need to leave. He’s bleeding out as is. You don’t have to—you don’t want _this_ memory too.”

Valerie grunted and dropped the revolver at Aric’s side. _“Do it yourself, if you’re so full of guilt and can’t wait for the void to claim you,”_ she said coldly, shoulders squared. “ _I won’t hurt myself for your benefit.”_

She turned away and they left quickly. If Aric used the gun they  didn’t hear it and Felicity was thankful for that.

There were enough memories here both of them would like to bury.

 

* * *

 

Despite Eugene’s best efforts, they managed to ghost their way back to Valerie’s room at Saunburg.

The town was celebrating their victory, spreading the news and spectacle of the cult’s base engulfed in flames. Perhaps they would know not to be afraid again, should another group rise and try to hurt them. But that was beyond Felicity’s concern and well beyond Val in her current state.

Valerie wanted nothing to do with the celebration and insisted they would catch the first ferry come morning.

“Thank you.”

Felicity turned away from the window to meet Val’s tired stare, warm lamp light spilling across the left side of her body from the bedside table. She sat with her back against the wall and her knees drawn up, arms propped upon them and hands linked. A weathered look of exhaustion dominated her face, softened by the thinnest sliver of relief.

She looked so small.

“For what?” Felicity asked, genuinely puzzled.

Val was blunt. “Saving me.”

Felicity shook her head and walked over, kneeling her projection in front of Valerie. “You never have to thank me for that,” she said firmly, reaching out to stroke through Val’s arm, mimicking pressure in Val’s sensors to emphasis her speech. “ _Ever_.”

Bright pupils flicked down, away from her face, and Felicity frowned in worry. “Val?” She bowed her head, trying to catch Valerie’s eyes.

Sadness rippled through their shared systems and Valerie sighed, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

It was much easier to guess what _that_ was for and Felicity tried to impress a hug on Valerie’s arm, moving her projection as a visual cue. “Don’t,” she murmured. “All she did was cause harm and try to kill you. It needed to be done.”

If she hadn’t pulled that trigger, Cass could have escaped and just started up somewhere else, threatening Valerie all over again. She’d already shown herself to be an unrepentant murderer and sadist, not to mention the insufferable traits that led to her to disabling Val’s cybernetics. She was a terrible, _terrible_ person and Felicity couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk something important being ripped away from her again.

When they returned to Sanctuary, they would take a look at the drone and see about retooling it. That _horrible_ moment at the eel farm wouldn’t happen again if she could help it. She had felt so _useless_ without any tech she could quickly manipulate.

Perhaps the drone wasn’t enough by itself. She’d been so afraid of stepping into another frame like the constructor or the power suits, but she could feel herself shrugging that off in light of recent events.

The drone _wasn’t_ enough. It was a shell made for stealth and subterfuge, but she couldn’t protect Valerie with it things went south.

Tugging on Val’s sensors got her to open her eyes half-way and Felicity leaned close, her voice coming out quiet and hard. “You matter to me in a way no one else has. I can’t— _won’t_ —lose you.”

Valerie nodded and the sadness slowly ebbed, but Felicity it would permeate her for a while. Val’s voice was gentle as she spoke. “I’m taking a break when we get back. You won’t have to worry for a bit.” She offered a weak smile and Felicity tried not to reflect any melancholy back at her.

The hurt would fade and the memories of this trip would dim with time. Valerie at least had that luxury and for that, Felicity was grateful. For now however they fell quiet, pondering events and what it meant for the future, but content to stay together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you for reading all the way to the end. Obviously I got a bit attached to Felicity and wanted to write an adventure she could get tangled up in.
> 
> If you liked my writing here, I have original books on amazon. Check my profile for more information.


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